Investigators turn to 'Missing, Reward'

Federal investigators are turning to tabloid television for help to find out who sent Washington County Circuit Judge John P. Corderman a package containing several pipe bombs last year.

"Missing, Reward," a syndicated television program that includes stories on unsolved crimes with rewards for information, plans to come to Hagerstown this month to film a segment on the bombing, said Ann Hassett, executive producer.

The investigation is in its 10th month since the Dec. 22 bombing, and the crime is not close to being solved, said Paul Grifo, spokesman for the U.S. Postal Service.

Postal inspectors hope the show will result in new leads. "We're just trying to shake something loose," he said.

No air date has been scheduled yet, Ms. Hassett said.

"Missing, Reward" is a half-hour program produced by Group W Productions in Los Angeles and hosted by actor Stacy Keach. The program is seen on 115 stations across the country, Ms. Hassett said. It is carried by WJZ-TV Channel 13 in Baltimore at p.m. on Saturdays.

The show has three segments, one about a missing person, a second about an unsolved case and a third for collectors looking for a special item, Ms. Hassett said. All of the segments involve some kind of reward for information, she said.

Officials recently increased the reward from $50,000 to $76,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of whoever sent the bomb to Judge Corderman.

"If someone has information about the judge's case, we will have it worked out ahead of time for someone from the postal service to take calls on a 900 number," Ms. Hassett said.

Earlier, investigators said they were looking through Judge Corderman's cases at the county courthouse, trying to find a suspect that fit a profile they had drawn up -- not a hard-core criminal, but someone whose life had been shattered by one of the judge's rulings. No information on any possible leads has been released.

A package containing several pipe bombs was delivered to Judge Corderman's Hagerstown apartment on Dec. 22. When Judge Corderman opened the package, the bombs exploded, causing injuries to his abdomen and one of his hands and some hearing loss.

He returned to the bench on Feb. 7, but still suffers from hearing difficulties as a result of the explosion.

This is the second time this year that an unsolved case in Western Maryland will be aired through national syndication. In February, "A Current Affair" reported on the unsolved murder of Tracey Lynn Kirkpatrick, the Frederick teen-ager who was found stabbed to death on March 15, 1989.